Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, has resigned from his role with immediate effect. In a statement issued by the Presidency on Saturday, Ngelale cited medical matters affecting his immediate nuclear family as the reason for his resignation.
Ngelale stated, “On Friday, I submitted a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President informing my office that I am proceeding on an indefinite leave of absence to frontally deal with medical matters presently affecting my immediate nuclear family.”
He added, “While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonizing decision — entailing a pause of my functions as the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity and Official Spokesperson of the President, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen — was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days as a vexatious medical situation has worsened at home.”
Ngelale, who was appointed as the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity on August 1, 2023, also served as the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen. He previously served as the Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs to President Muhammadu Buhari between 2019 and 2023.
The Presidency has accepted Ngelale’s resignation, and his leave is expected to last until his family’s medical issues are resolved. Ngelale has requested privacy for his family during this time, saying, “I look forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit.”
